Shaving units and dispensers therefor



June 1811333 B. s. HANSOM 3, 3

' SHAVING UNITS AND DISPENSERS THEREFOR Filed April 25. 1966 aSheets-Sheet 1 10 10b 10a 10f W 1W6 1 @nwww,

ATTORNEY- June 18, 1968 B. s. HANSOM SHAVING UNITS AND DISPENSERSTHEREFOR 6 Sheets-Sheet. 2

Filed April 25, 1966 Fla. 7. 8 M m A'rroeuey June 18, 1968 a. s. HANSOM3,388,831

SHAVING UNITS AND DISPENSERS THEREFOR Filed April 25. 1966 6Sheets-Sheet :5

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June 18, 1968 B. s. HANSOM 3,383,831

SHAVING UNITS AND DISPENSERS THEREFOR Filed April 25. 1966 6Sheets-Sheet 4 l l L L tUU FIG. /2.

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June 18, 1968 B. s. HANSOM 3,388,831

SHAVING UNITS AND DISPENSERS THEREFOR Filed April 25, 1966 6Sheets-Sheet 5 v A lljisN-ron j (01%, 7WZf a @pw.

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SHAVING UNITS AND DISPENSERS THEREFOR Filed April 25, 1966 6Sheets-Sheet 6 United States Patent C) 12 Claims. (Cl. 221-220) ABSTRACTOF THE DISCLOSURE A razor having a shaving unit formed with a rigidmember and a thin cutting edge prepositioned in shaving relation to therigid member and having a handle releasably grasping the rigid membertogether with a dispenser which stores the shaving units with the rigidmember of at least one unit exposed to permit the handle to grasp thebacking member and remove the unit from the dispenser.

This invention relates to a novel combination of shaving units anddispensers therefor. It will be made clear hereafter what is meant inthe present specification by the term shaving units.

At the present time the majority of shaving is by the use of thindouble-edge razor blades which are fitted by the user in a razor frame,the blades being replaced when they are no longer fit for further use.Such razor frames are provided with a socalled guard which is oftenformed like a comb to admit hairs between its teeth, and which in use ismoved over the skin at an angle to the skin such that the cutting edgeof the blade cuts into the hairs immediately above the level of theskin. This angle will be referred to as the shaving angle.

For satisfactory shaving the shaving angle must be large enough toenable the blade to cut into the hairs rather than bending them over,but not so large that the cutting edge tends to dig into the face andcut the skin. It will be understood that the shaving angle is determinedby the relative position of the cutting edge and the surface of theguard.

In an attempt to achieve optimum positioning of the cutting edgerelative to the guard surface razor frames are on sale in which theflexing of the blade, when clamped in the razor frame, can be varied toa limited extent in order to adjust this spacing. However, because oftolerances in blade manufacture and between different makes of blades itis not always possible to adjust to the optimum condition andreadjustment may be necessary each time a blade is replaced.

There have been proposals in patent specifications for a type of razorhich would not suffer from this disadvantage. This consists of acomplete razor frame molded in a plastics material with the razor bladepermanently secured in the head of the razor. With this construction itwould bet possible to set the spacing between the guard surface and thecutting edge during manufacture of the razor. However, with such razors,when the blade is no longer fit for use the complete frame must bediscarded.

It is an object of the present invention to obtain the benefits ofhaving a present spacing between the guard surface and the cutting edgewhilst avoiding the disadvantage of having to store complete replacementrazors for replacement of the existing razor when the blade thereof isno longer fit for use.

According to the present invention there is provided a razor bladedispenser comprising a housing for a pluice rality of shaving units,each shaving unit consisting of a substantially rigid member to which arazor blade is se cured in a permanent manner with said rigid memberproviding a guard surface at a predetermined spacing from a cutting edgeof the blade, said housing exposing, at least successively, sufiicientof the rigid member of each shaving unit, so that said shaving units canbe withdrawn successively from said dispenser by means of a handle whichis engaged with an exposed portion of each rigid member.

It will be seen that the present invention utilizes shaving units whicheach consist of a substantially rigid member to which a razor blade issecured in a permanent manner, the rigid member having a guard surfacelocated at a preset spacing from the cutting edge of the blade. Thus,each shaving unit takes the place of the head of a conventional razorframe and has the razor blade already fitted therein in a permanentmanner. The shape of these shaving units is chosen so that a number ofthem can be stored compactly in a dispenser which is so designed that ahandle can be applied to a shaving unit to withdraw it from thedispenser for use. When the blade is no longer fit for use the shavingunit can be discarded or returned to a portion of the dispenser designedto receive used shaving units. Another shaving unit can then bewithdrawn by means of the handle.

At no time is it necessary for a shaving unit to be handled. By contrastwith conventional razors it is necessary to handle the razor blade atleast partially to eject them from their dispenser before they can befurther Withdrawn by hooking them onto the razor frame. Likewise theymust be handled to insert them into the used blade compartment.

It will be seen that this combination of dispenser for storing shavingunits together with a handle common to the shaving units, should becoustrasted with the complete disposable razors previously proposed inpatent specifications. A dispenser containing five shaving units is theequivalent of five such disposable razors and can be stored in far lessspace with consequent advantage to the manufacturer, the distributorsand shopkeepers, as well as the users. There is the additional importantadvantage that whilst the shaving units are in the dispenser thedelicate cutting edge is protected from damage or from causing injury.

There is an obvious hygenic advantage in replacing the complete head, orat least that part of the head which comes into contact with the faceduring shaving, at each replacement of a blade.

Reference has been made to the advantage of being able to fix thespacing between the cutting edge of the blade and the guard memberduring manufacture of the shaving units. Such shaving units may bemanufactured with more than one relative setting of cutting edge toguard member and in this case the head may be marked in some way, forexample by colour coding, to indicate the particular blade setting.Thus, there might be three blade settings, one designed to provide avery close shave, the second a normal shave and the third a less closeshave.

That surface of a shaving unit which normally comes into contact withthe face of the user may be treated to provide it with a predeterminedcoeflicient of friction and, here again, shaving units may be providedwith a different coefficient of friction duly indicated by suitablecoding. Thus, where a user prefers the portion of the shaving unit whichcontacts the skin to slide freely over the skin the surface may be givena loW coefiicient of friction. This can be done, for example, byensuring that this portion of the surface is of a material having a lowcoeificient of friction, for example polytetrafluoroethylene. On theother hand some users may prefer the surface in contact with ablytreated to ensure that it has a relatively high coefiicient of friction.

Several embodiments of dispensers and handles for use therewith will nowbe described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings in which;

FIGURE 1 is an end view of a shaving unit,

FIGURE 2 is a plan View of a shaving unit,

FIGURE 3 is underside plan view of a shaving unit, whilst FIGURE 4 is asectional view along the line IV-IV in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a rear view of the handle for holding a shaving unit,

FIGURE 6 is a sectional side view of the handle, whilst FIGURE 7 is aplan view of the handle;

FIGURE 8 is a part sectional plan view of a dispenser for containing theshaving units, and

FIGURE 9 is a sectional side view of the dispenser.

FIGURE 10 is a plan View of an alternate construction of the dispenser,

FIGURE 11 is a sectional side elevation along the line XIXI in FIG. 10,

FIGURE 12 is an underside plan view of the dispenser of FIG. 10,

FIGURE 13 is an end elevation as seen from the right in FIG. 10, and

FIGURE 14 is a view as seen from above in the direction of the arrow XIVin FIG. 11.

FIGURE 15 is a sectional side elevation of a further possibleconstruction of dispenser showing a part of the handle, with the head ofthe handle in a position to withdraw a shaving unit,

FIGURE 16 is a similar view to FIG. 15 but with the head of the handlereleased from a used shaving unit,

FIGURE 17 is a plan view of the modified shaving unit stored in thedispenser of FIG. 15,

FIGURE 18 is an elevational view of the handle, and

FIGURE 19 is a plan view of the dispenser of FIG. 15.

Referring now to FIGURE 1 this shows a shaving unit 10 of generallyretangular shape of a plastics material, for example polystyrene, inwhich the blade 10a is moulded so that its cutting edge 10b is pro-fixedrelative to the forward edge portion of the unit which forms a guardsurface 100. Channels 10d are provided in the head to facilitate rinsingof the exposed portion of the blade after use, A transverse downwardlyopening locating groove 102 is provided in the underface of the unit, tolocate with a corresponding transverse upward projection provided on therazor frame, as will be described hereafter, whilst a step 10f isprovided on the upper face of the unit to engage a movable clamp on theframe, as will also be described hereafter.

As mentioned above the shaving units may be manufactured with varioussettings of the cutting edge spaced upwardly and rearwardly relative tothe guard member and with the surface 100 having an appropriate co-efiicient of friction.

Referring now to FIGURES 5 to 7 these show a shaving unit 10 mounted inthe handle 11 with the groove 10:: of the underface mating with anelongated projection 11b on the upwardly facing transverse seatingsurface 11a of the handle. The rear end of the unit 10 abuts against astep lie at the rear end of the seat 11a. The shaving unit 10 is held inposition on the seat 11a by a pivoted clamp jaw 12 whose forward upperend has a downwardly facing transverse surface which is urged downwardlyonto the step 10f on the upper face of rear portion of the unit Ill by aleaf spring 13 hearing on the lower limb of the clamp. The head is freedby pressing on a thumb plate 12a of the clamp thereby pivoting the clampagainst the reaction of the spring 13 to increase the vertical spacingof the opening between the clamp jaws formed by the seat 11a and theunderface of the clamp member 12.

The shaving units 10 are stored in the dispenser 14 shown in FIGURES 8and 9 abutting one another rear face to front face with the rear edge ofthe units (not shown) facing towards the left hand end of the dispenser(as viewed in FIGURE 8) with the endmost unit at the left hand endhaving exposed at least its locating groove lfie and step 10 becausethey are not covered by the upper plate 14b and lower plate 140 of thedispenser. In this Way the handle can be brought into engagement withthis endmost unit whilst the thumb plate is depressed so that theprojection 11b can be engaged in the locating groove lite and the thumbplate 12a then released so that the unit 10 now located on the seat 11acan be withdrawn from the dispenser.

When the neXt new shaving unit is required the used unit at presentfitted to the handle is inserted in the other end of the dispenser, thatis the right hand side as viewed in FIGURE 8, and is pushed into thedispenser to displace to the left all the shaving units already in thedispenser, thereby moving a further unused unit into the withdrawalposition at the left hand end. After this movement has been effected thethumb plate 12a is depressed so that the handle 11 can be detached fromthe used unit 10 and the handle then taken to the other end of the dispenser where it can be engaged with a new unit to withdraw it for use.

To retain the saving units in position a tongue 14a is for-med in eachside wall of the dispenser at the right hand end and two similar tonguesat the left hand end. With a choice of suitable material for at leastthe side walls, the tongues will be sufiiciently resilient to flexoutwardly and allow shaving units to move from right to left, but not inthe opposite direction. To locate the shav-- ing units positively incorrect position a slot 16g (FIG. 3) is formed in each end wall of theunits 10, each slot 10g being entered by the tip of the adjacent tongue14a when the unit is in the appropriate position.

The alternative construction of dispenser shown in FIGS. 10 to 14 isdesigned for storing shaving units 21 similar to those shown in FIGS. 1to 4 and can be used with a handle similar to that shown in FIGS. 5 to7. Referring now to FIG. 11, this shows the dispenser with one shavingunit 21 in the first of the five storage positions for new shavingunits. FIG. 11 also shows a shaving unit 22 at the entrance of the usedcompartment 23.

The dispenser is moulded from plastic and is preferably a one-piecemoulding, although it could be assembled from more than one moulding.The compartments for holding unused shaving units are defined by fivepairs of flexible tongues 24a, 24b extending towards one another inpairs from each vertical side wall 25 of the dispenser, leaving a widepassage down the middle of the dispenser to enable thehandle to beapplied to the central portion of the shaving unit when it is desired towithdraw an unused shaving unit. At the end remote from the outer wallseach tongue is provided with a projection 24al, 24121 (FIGS. 11 and 14),which engages in the underside of the rinsing channel 21a of the shavingunit to hold the latter in position with its forward end against thebase 26 of the dispenser. A web 24:12, 24b2 at the root of each tonguelocates the unused shaving unit but the remainder of each tongue isspaced to leave a gapbetween the rear of the forwardly facingundersurface of the shaving unit and the adjacent rearwardly facingundersurface of the tongue to facilitate location of the handle when itis positioned to engage a shaving unit for withdrawal. The tongues 24a,24b are suificiently flexible so that they are deflected as theprojections 24a1, 24b1 move out of the rinsing channel 21:: as theshaving unit is withdrawn following its engagement by the handle.

The front end of the dispenser is open to admit used shaving units intothe used compartment 23. Two downwardly depending tongues 27 normallyextend downward- 1y into the used compartment 23 and are deflectedupwardly by the forward end of a shaving unit as it is pushed-in upsidedown, until the tongues 27 come opposite the underside of the rinsingchannel 22a whereupon the tongues 27 can spring back to their normalposition and prevent the shaving unit from moving back out of thecompartment 23. The unused shaving units are withdrawn progressivelyfrom the front of the dispenser so that as it is desired to feed infurther used shaving units into the compartment 23 the used unitsalready in the compartment 23 can be pushed progressively towards therear of the dispenser as the later used units are inserted.

The angle of inclination of the tongues 24a, 24b may be chosen with thefollowing considerations in mind. If the angle is too great the lengthof the dispenser may become undesirably long whereas if the angle is tooshallow it may become diflicult to engage the handle with a shaving unitin order to withdraw the latter because of the handle fouling thedispenser.

The apertures in the base 26 of the dispenser are to facilitatewithdrawal from the mould.

A further construction of dispenser and handle for cooperation therewithwill now be described with reference to FIGS. to 19. The shaving units30 to be stored in the dispenser 31 are of generally similarconstruction to those shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 and have a blade 30a.However, instead of the groove 1042 a keyway 30b of limited length isprovided and the step 10f is omitted, the rear portion of the shavingunit being somewhat tapered. The shaving units 30 each have forward andrearward projec tions 30c, 30d projecting from each end. The handle 32has a transverse support head 32a providing an elongated transverseopening formed by opposed transverse clamp faces spaced apart forreceiving and engaging the opposite upper and lower faces of a shavingunit 30, the width of the head being such that the forward and rearwardprojections 30c, 30d of the shaving unit project beyond the respectiveends of the head 32a. The handle 32 has a projection 3212 at each end ofthe head 32a for a purpose to be described hereafter. An upwardlyprojecting detent 33 slidably supported in the lower face of the head isurged outwardly by a spring 34 to project into the opening in the head32a.

The dispenser 31 consists of a base 31a and side walls 31b and has anopen top. For withdrawal of a shaving unit 30 the head 32a of the handleis pushed downwardly over that shaving unit 30 which is at the left handend of the dispenser 31 until the spring-loaded detent 33 in the head32a is depressed by contact with the upper edge of the shaving unit 34).After further downward movement of the head 32a the detent 33 clicksinto position in engagement with the transversely extending keyway 30bin the shaving unit, as shown in FIG. 15, to secure the shaving unit inthe head so that the shaving unit 30 can be withdrawn by upward movementof the head 32a. A spring 35 in the dispenser then moves the nextshaving unit 30 into the withdrawal position.

To return a used shaving unit to the dispenser the head 32a with theshaving unit 30 fixed therein is fed into the right hand end of thedispenser. The engagement of the projections 32b on the head 32a withcam surfaces 310 on each wall 31b together with the engagement of thelower end of the shaving unit with a step 31d in the base of thedispenser cause separation of the head 32a from the shaving unit 30which is retained by the abutment of the rearward projections 30d withthe underside of the flange 3llb1 on the side walls 31b. During themovement of the used shaving unit into the dispenser keys 31a formed inthe inside faces of the side walls 31b are depressed and then returnafter sufficient inward movement to retain the shaving unit in thedispenser. In this way the handle is freed from the used shaving unitand can then be used to pick up shaving unit from the other end of thedispenser.

It will be understood that the handle may take many other forms, theprincipal requirement being that it has means for ready engagement andeventual disengagement from a shaving unit, the latter being so formedand located in the dispenser that a selected shaving unit can be engagedby the handle to remove it from the dispenser so that the razor is readyfor use without the blade being touched by hand.

Thus, in alternative constructions the handle may be provided at theappropriate end with a suitable screwthreaded projection orscrewthreaded recess for engagement with a corresponding screwthreadedrecess or projection, respectively, provided in the shaving unit. On theother hand, the engagement between the handle and a shaving unit may beby means of a dove tail shaped projection on one of the members engagingwith a corresponding shaped recess in the other. Other possiblearrangements comprise engagement by means of a collet and wedge, aresilient button or by any other suitable means by which engagement anddisengagement between the members may be readily effected when it isdesired to change a shaving unit.

The dispenser may also take many other forms. For example the dispensermay be designed so that the selected shaving unit is removed bytransverse movement in a slot with light friction holding the shavingunit in position prior to selected removal or it may be held by a lightpinch grip which is overcome by tension on the handle.

In yet another construction of dispenser; when a used shaving unit isreturned the handle may be released from the shaving unit by sidewaysmovement, the used shaving unit being prevented from moving sidewayswith one handle due to abutment of the relative end of the shaving unitwith a side wall of the dispenser.

In any of the above described constructions of dispenser thespring-loaded detent, or other portion of the handle which secures thehandle to a shaving unit, may have an externally protruding portion.When a used shaving unit is being returned to the used compartment ofthe dispenser the protruding portion on the handle engages aco-operating part on the dispenser so that the detent is operated torelease the used shaving unit and allow withdrawal of the handle.

I claim:

1. In combination, a dispenser of generally rectangular shape, saiddispenser having a base and side walls, a resilient member located insaid dispenser, a plurality of shaving units, each shaving unitcomprising a substantially rigid elongated member of plastics materialand of generally rectangular shape, the forward edge portion thereofproviding a guard surface for contact with the skin and a razor bladethinner than said rigid member permanently secured to said rigid memberand having a cutting edge spaced upwardly and rearwardly from said guardsurface, and a handle having a transverse support forming an openingtransverse of said handle for receiv ing and locating said rigid memberof one of said units with said cutting edge projecting sideways of saidhandle, said handle having a detent and a resiliently restored pushmember urging said detent into said opening, displacement of said pushmember moving said detent for selective engagement by said support withsaid rigid member whereby said shaving unit is grasped by said handleupon release of said push member, said shaving units being positioned insaid dispenser abutting one another and urged by said dispenserresilient member towards one end of said dispenser so that, at leastsuccessively, sufiicient of the rigid member of each shaving unit isexposed for selective engagement by said detent whereby said shavingunits can be withdrawn in turn from said dispenser by said handle.

2. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said dispensercomprises locating means for positive location of said handle relativeto said dispenser whilst a shaving unit is being withdrawn from saiddispenser by said handle.

3. In combination, a shaving unit comprising a sub stantially rigidelongated member of plastics material having a guard surface on itsforward edge portion for contact with the skin and an elongated bladethinner than said rigid member and having a cutting edge, said bladebeing permanently fixed to said rigid member with its cutting edgeparallel to, and spaced from, said guard surface in shaving relation tothe latter, and a handle having a transverse support including clampjaws forming a transverse opening therebetween for receiving said rigidmember therein with the cutting edge extending outwardly from saidopening, one of said jaws having locating surfaces for positioning saidshaving unit relative thereto, said rigid member of said shaving unithaving cooperating surfaces for engagement with said locating surfaceson said handle, said handle also having means associated with one ofsaid jaws for engaging said rigid member and holding the same on saidsupport, and means for releasing said engaging means to permit removalof a shaving unit.

4. The combination of claim 3 in which the transverse support on saidhandle is elongated to substantially the length of the rigid member ofsaid shaving unit.

5. The combination of claim 3 in which said means associated with one ofsaid jaws includes means pivotally supporting said jaw for movement intoand out of engaging and holding position, and said releasing means isarranged to move said jaw.

6. The combination of claim 5 in which said means associated with one ofsaid jaws also includes resilient means urging said jaw into engagingand holding position.

7. The combination of claim 3 in which said locating surfaces include adetent, and said means for engaging said rigid member includes means formovably support ing said detent into and out of engagement with saidrigid member.

8. The combination of claim 3 in which one of said locating surfaces isa detent, one of said cooperating sur faces defines a recess forreceiving said detent, and said means for engaging said rigid memberincludes a resilient push member urging said detent into engaging andholding position in said recess.

9. The combination of claim 7 in which said means for engaging saidrigid member also includes means resiliently urging said detent intoengagement with said rigid member.

10. In combination, a dispenser of generally rectangular shape, saiddispenser having a base and side walls, a

plurality of shaving units, each comprising a substantially rigidelongated member having a guard surface for contact with the skin and anelongated blade thinner than said rigid member and having a cuttingedge, said blade being rigidly fixed to said rigid member with itscutting edge parallel to, and spaced from, said guard surface in shavingrelation to the latter, said shaving units being positioned in saiddispenser in parallel relation to each other, said dispenser havingresilient means for retaining said shaving units therein, a handlehaving a transverse support for receiving the rigid member of a shavingunit, said support having locating surfaces for positioning said shavingunit relative thereto, said rigid member of a shaving unit havingcooperating surfaces for engagement with said locating surfaces on saidhandle, said handle also having means for engaging said rigid member andholding the same on said support, and means for releasing said engagingmeans on said handle, said dispenser having relieved wall portionsspaced from the rigid member of at least one of said shaving unitstherein, said spacing being sufiicient to permit said support of saidhandle to enter said dispenser for engagement of said handle locatingsurfaces and cooperating surfaces of said one of said shaving units,upon release of said engaging means 11. The combination of claim 10 inwhich said shaving units are in abutting relation to each other and inwhich said resilient means of said dispenser is positioned to urge saidshaving units toward one end of said dispenser and said relieved wallportions are positioned at said one end.

12. The combination of claim 10 in which said dispenser compriseslocating means for positive location of said handle relative to saiddispenser for causing engagement of said locating and cooperatingsurfaces.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,015,159 1/1962 De Baun 3085 X2,444,105 6/1948 Miller 3085 X 2,017,741 10/ 1935 Wallenthin 30-852,735,581 2/ 1956 Erdmann 221-220 3,131,806 5/1964 Tait et a1 221-268STANLEY H. TOLLBERG, Primary Examiner.

